Girls on the Run Lemonade and Bake Sale 5/26

Tuesday, May 26th, from 3:15 to 4:30, Girls on the Run will host a lemonade and treat sale as their community impact project. Lemonade and treats will be sold for 50 cents each (or a donation) to raise money for the purchase of a tree for the playlot. We'd love to have you and your child join us for a tasty end to the day! Thank you for your support!

7th Grade Language Arts: To Kill a Mockingbird Character Party

Selective Enrollment Test Prep through Selective Prep at North Park

I have been asked to share this information with you for the fall. There are other options as well, but this is the only class that will be held AT North Park.

Register NOW for SelectivePrep’s After School North Park Elementary Selective Enrollment Program (for 8^th Graders)

One third of the entrance score is determined by your child’s performance on the Selective Enrollment High School Entrance Exam. SelectivePrep offers an intensive program to help prepare students for the Selective Enrollment Entrance Exam. SelectivePrep’s course will review all the Exam’s Reading, Math, Language, and Vocabulary topics and discuss optimal test taking techniques. Included in this program is a Study Guide containing extensive content review and exercises.

Classes at North Park Elementary will start on Monday, October 19^th and run for 8 sessions from 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM. We will need a minimum of 10 students to run the class at North Park Elementary – so please spread the word. Click here to register.

If you need more information or have any questions, please visit our website at selectiveprep.com or call 312-409-8411.

PE Year in Review Video!

Hi Everyone,

I have created a video to show everybody all the great things we have done this year in PE here at NPES! We have come a long way since the fall, and have been learning about and playing many games this year.  I hope you all enjoy this glimpse into your student's year in my class!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F59Im2cVfq8

-Mr. Hirsch

United States Geography

This week, the 7th graders are studying United States Geography.  Today, we filled out maps and charts about the 50 states.  For a lot of students, it was a good review.  Students enjoyed talking about what they knew about each state.  Tomorrow, we will discuss geographical features such as mountains and rivers.  Later in the week, students will research a few different states to use as examples for their evidence essay about how the land, climate, and resources of a state affect the way that people live.

Water bottle Project

This week in 7th grade math we are continuing to work on the water bottle project.  Everyone has had their volume totals corrected and are accurate and now we are moving onto surface area.  We have practiced and watched videos on how to find the surface area of prisms, cylinder, cones, pyramids, and spheres.  They are now in the process of applying this information to their water bottles. Tomorrow we will move onto how to create flat patterns for all of these different shapes.

Due Dates:

Thursday May 21st Unit 9-10 test
Thursday May 21st alternative assessment due
Thursday May 21st surface area for all three shapes due
Wednesday May 27th 50 multiple choice question comprehensive final
Friday May 29th Final water bottle project due (This date was pushed back one day).

Week 36: 7th Grade Science

Weeks: 36

Topic:  The Cell in Its Environment

Objectives: 

Describe how most small molecules cross the cell membrane. 

Explain why osmosis is important to cells.

Tell the difference between passive and active transport.

Essential Question:

How is the cell membrane like a locksmith? 

Key Terms:

selective permeability

diffusion

active & passive transport

cell membrane

This week: This week the 7th graders will see the many ways how the cell membrane allows certain materials to enter and leave the cell. 

Differentiation:

developing hypotheses

using ratios

inferring

Upcoming:  Cell Project due date 5/21/15

Frog Dissection

                     Photosynthesis

                     Respiration

                     

Immigration Project

This week, students are finishing up their immigration projects.  Students are working in small groups to research and teach information about different immigrant groups that have impacted the culture and economy of the United States.  They are now working on the final stage of their project which is to create a "primary source" about their immigrant group.  Students are creating letters, diary entries, political cartoons, and newspapers about the immigrant experience.  Next week, students will begin a short unit about United States geography.

Questions for your 7th grader:
Which immigrant group are you researching?  What have you learned about them?
What are you creating for your "primary source"?

7th Grade Language Arts: Aunt Alexandra’s Tea Party

The To Kill a Mockingbird unit is coming to an end.  Students will take the final test next week and present their final project.  The seventh grade students will be writing an analysis of one of the characters they have chosen from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.  Students will dress as their character and read their character analysis for the Aunt Alexandra’s Tea Party presentation on Friday, May 22nd.  

Upcoming Due Dates:

Harris Burdick Project due Friday, May 15th

To Kill a Mockingbird Final Test on Wednesday, May 20th

Character Analysis/Presentation on Friday, May 22nd

Volume and Surface Area

This week in 7th grade math we are continuing our work on the water bottle project.  Last week spent all of our time on volume and this week we are focusing on surface area.  Today we learned how to find the surface area of rectangular and triangular prisms and a cylinder.  Tomorrow we will learn how to find the surface are or a parallelogram and trapezoidal prisms.  On Thursday we will begin to look at the surface area of pyramids and cones.  While we are going over surface area concepts the class is also being given time to work on the project and find their volume numbers.

I have made myself available for lunch/recess everyday for the rest of the year to help out with the project.  Any student can use the time to come and see me to ask questions and get help.

Due Thursday May 14th:  Volume numbers for all three designs
Due Thursday May 21st:  Surface Area numbers for all three designs

Week 35: 7th Grade Science

Weeks: 35

Topic:  Cell Structure & Function

Objectives: 

Identify the role of the cell wall and cell membrane in the cell.

Describe the functions of cell organelles.

Explain how cells are organized in many-celled organisms.

Tell how bacterial cells differ from plant and animal cells. 

Essential Question:

How are cells like a factory? 

Key Terms:

organelle

cell organelles

This week: This week the 7th graders received their instructions for their cell project.  This unit is a self-study/research project on the cell.  They will research each organelle of the cell and and compile their research into a spread sheet format.  It will be a great study guide for high school.

Differentiation:

researching

art integration

technology integration

Upcoming:  Cell Project due date 5/21/15

                     The Cell in its Environment

                     Photosynthesis

                     Respiration

                     

7th graders are designing websites

In library, seventh graders spent a little time studying how to evaluate a credible website and what kind of questions to ask to assess credibility.  Within this context, they also viewed some hoax websites and now are designing their own.  Links will be supplied once they are completed but so far, they are very creative (and somewhat outrageous.)

Week 34: 7th Grade Science

Weeks: 34

In weeks 32 and 33 the 7th graders became geologist.  They created their own field guides for igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.  To conclude the unit they studied the rock cycle which tied in their knowledge from the “Inside the Earth” unit.

For the remainder of the year they will study the cell.  The class will use their prior knowledge from last year and expand their knowledge of the cell.  The key concentration of this unit will involve the cell environment (diffusion and active transport), cell processes, and energy (photosynthesis and cellular respiration.)  The culminating project will be creating a spread sheet to identify parts of the cell.

Geometry

This week in 7th grade we have started working on our geometry unit.  We started off the week talking about different shapes and how to classify them.  We then used grid paper and scissors to prove and discover the area and perimeter formulas of squares, rectangles, parallelograms, triangles, trapezoids, and circles.  For the next two days we will do some activities to help get a better understanding of volume of prisms, cylinders, cones, pyramids, and spheres.  All of this is leading up to the water bottle project.

The students will be asked to create a water bottle for a company called Liquid Lightning.  The only rule is that the water bottle has to hold between 350 and 450 cubic cm of liquid.  They will create three different examples of the water bottle.  They will then calculate the volume and surface area and create a flat pattern of all three designs.  They will then choose one of their three designs and actually create and decorate the water bottle out of paper.  They will be graded on the complexity of their designs, accuracy of volume calculations, accuracy of surface area calculations, and accuracy of the the flat pattern for each design.

The volume calculations of each design are due by Thursday May 15th.
The surface are calculations for each design are due by Thursday May 21st.
The final constructed water bottle and paper are due Thursday May 28th.

There will also be a test for this unit and a end of the year multiple choice final.

7th Grade Language Arts: Harris Burdick Writing Project

7th graders are starting a creative writing project inspired by the wordless picture book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg.  Yesterday students viewed the pictures and started brainstorming ideas for their project.  They can choose from a variety of writing options for this project.  Writing options include letters, business correspondences, case files, wills, sets of directions and maps, journals, advertisements, short stories, or any kind of writing that connects to the pictures or the mystery.  Be sure to ask your child about what they plan to do for this creative writing project.  This project will be presented and submitted on Friday, May 15th.